Despite only having played 12 Test matches for India thus far, Washington Sundar has made a big and enduring impression. He has taken 32 wickets, including seven-wicket haul last year, and averages 44.86 with the bat. The pivotal moment in his career, though, may have been on the last day of the Manchester Test match against England, when he scored his first century and helped the visitors salvage an unlikely draw.
M Sundar, the all-rounder's father, feels that his son has been treated unfairly by the selectors because he hasn't received a regular opportunity to play in any of the game's three formats and his performances are consistently disregarded.
England had their tail up and had a chance to take an insurmountable lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy when Sundar walked out to bat on the last day. But the 25-year-old had other ideas, and he and Ravindra Jadeja put up an undefeated 203-run partnership to keep India alive in the five-match series.
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But as per Sundar's father, only his son doesn't receive the same treatment while everyone else keeps getting a steady run. Sundar was left out of the starting lineup for the series opener in Headingley, but was added to the starting lineup by the management after the second Test in Edgbaston.
Speaking to The Times of India, M Sundar said: “Washington has been doing very well consistently. However, people tend to avoid and forget his performances. Other players get regular chances, only my son doesn't get them.”
“Washington should consistently bat at number five like he did in the second innings of the fourth Test and get five to ten straight chances. My son was surprisingly not picked for the first Test against England. The selectors should watch his performances,” he added.
Sundar also impressed with a four-wicket haul in the second innings of the Lord's Test, dismantling key English batters. His father believes the all-rounder is unfairly dropped after just one or two failures — a standard not applied to other players.
“My son gets dropped even if he fails in just one or two matches. It is not fair. Washington scored an unbeaten 85 on a rank turner in Chennai against England back in 2021 and 96* against the same opposition in Ahmedabad during the same year,” he said.
"He would have been dropped even if those two knocks had ended up in centuries. Has this kind of an approach been maintained for any other Indian cricketer? He has become very strong after all this, and the result is the performance which people are witnessing now," he added.
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In addition, Sundar's father talked about the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, claiming that not even the Gujarat Titans gave him a steady run and only occasionally used him.
“Even his current team Gujarat Titans don't give him regular chances. He showcased his calibre in the IPL 2025 Eliminator against Mumbai Indians (MI), smashing 48 off 24 balls,” said M Sundar. “Look at the way Yashasvi Jaiswal has been backed by RR. Washington hasn't been able to enjoy a consistent run even in case of domestic cricket,” he added.
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